Intercultural business communication
CASE STUDY
Question 2
Intercultural business communication is essential in ensuring successful subcultural meetings. Rebecca Dumont’s meeting with a non-profit agency and a group of local Native Americans proved futile because she did not exhibit cultural intelligence, particularly linguistic knowledge and interpersonal intelligence. Cultural intelligence refers to the ability to portray the skills and qualities that are in line with the values and attitudes of a specific culture (Barmeyer & Franklin, 2016). Dumont did not implement this kind of intelligence as she ended up doing most of the talking with little to no participation from other members in the meeting.
Before holding the meeting, Dumont would have done thorough research about the subculture, Native Americans. A subculture’s communication behavior is distinctly different from that of the dominant culture. Analyzing Native Americans through the sixth dimension of Hofstede’s cultural model, this subculture seems to be of high restraint as they exhibit controlled and rigid behavior. Therefore, through the research, Dumont would have been able to identify the cultural dimensions such as language and psychological dimensions and identify aspects that are dominant within the subculture.
In language, Rebecca would have sought to understand the most applicable verbal and nonverbal cues to the members. The psychological dimension assimilates content and processes so that Dumont becomes aware of the subculture’s belief system, norms, rules, roles, and networks. With this cultural knowledge, she would have been able to prompt participation in the meeting. Additionally, this cultural variation insight would have enabled Dumont to learn how etiquette, that is, proper social behavior, is displayed. She would have been aware of how to make an appropriate introduction among the Native Americans. From the case study, Rebecca noticed that the meeting room’s social temperature was tense, but this tension could have been eased with a proper introduction.
Dumont would have taken time to study the values of the Native Americans. Knowing the cultural values would have helped her motivate her audience, and she would have been at a better position in solving the issue of a healthcare service that was in contrast with the Native American’s values. One of the values that the Native American’s upheld is the emphasis on history. This is deduced from the fact that Ryan Jones suggested to Dumont that they needed to consider the past and how it will determine the decisions. Had Rebecca known this, she would have used that approach in facilitating the meeting.
The LESCANT model is essential when dealing with international business communication. One of the variables that Rebecca would have put into account during the meeting is language. Language incorporates vocabulary choice, accent, and dialect, which further forms the oral communication. There are several aspects that Dumont should have combined in the meeting, such as thought patterns, and paralanguage (Sycara, Gelfand & Abbe, 2013). Since Dumont would have already researched the communication patterns specific to the Native Americans, applying the two mentioned aspects would have been natural.
Thought patterns include the pace in which problems are solved. Dumont seemed to want to rush into a conclusion, which is why the members’ participation levels were low. She should have been slow and thorough in the negotiations. Paralanguage refers to qualities of the voice such as pitch, rate, volume, and extent that enable one to know the nuances in a speech.
After the meeting, Dumont should have shared meeting notes with the other members. This will ensure that other people who may have been absent from the conference are updated. Rebecca should have followed up to ascertain that the course of action that was agreed upon was implemented accordingly. The method of follow up will depend on how versatile the subculture is in terms of technology.
Question 3
The harmonization that should have occurred in this meeting is the engagement of other members in the session such that the Native Americans are actively involved. Nevertheless, this was not the case as the meeting was characterized by long periods of silence as the people seemed unwilling to give their opinions on the problem. Efforts that Dumont made, like calling them out to participate, were in vain. This triggered her frustrations, and she ended up closing the meeting thirty minutes early.
According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this subculture seems to have strong uncertainty avoidance as they tend to have more laws and rules that specify correct behavior. This conclusion has been deduced from the fact that a healthcare clinic service did not align with the subculture’s values. They seek to uphold all their values and rules in undertaking their activities regardless of whether the healthcare service will benefit the people. This knowledge is therefore crucial in acculturation and identifying which communication skills and sub-cultural communication skills will be implemented in the meeting. Acculturation refers to adapting to a new and different culture, a process that Dumont needed to ensure she is conversant with as she had recently moved into Minneapolis from Atlanta, Georgia.
Additional communication skills that Dumont would have brought to the meeting include emotional control, stress management, creativity, and persuasiveness (Victor, 1992). Feelings affect how an individual communicates and can also cause an individual to make rush decisions. Therefore, with emotional control, negative emotions such as frustrations and misunderstandings can be managed. Emotional power goes hand in hand with stress management. Emotional control enables an individual to quickly think of creative and persuasive ways to engage the audience. Frustrations dawned on Dumont such that she could no longer come up with new techniques to prompt engagement from the members, hence the early wind up of the meeting.
Sub-cultural understanding skills that she would have enacted are self-assessment, empathy, and engagement. Conducting a self-assessment enables one to identify aspects of one’s culture that are different from other subcultures. With this, one will refrain from making assumptions that all cultures are similar. Dumont had assumed that all subcultures are like her hometown in Georgia, where everyone has something to say about everything. This cultural shock significantly contributed to making the meeting unproductive. Empathy refers to whereby an individual comprehends another person’s perspectives (Palmer, Garrido & Gómez, 2006). Dumont should have demonstrated empathy towards the Native Americans by showing them that she fully understood the implications that the new healthcare service would cause. Engagement refers to the ability of a person to prompt discussions by displaying subcultural knowledge.
Question 4
Some business meetings often fail as a result of the facilitator’s lack of knowledge on the nonverbal communication aspect associated with a particular culture or subculture. Non-word messages contribute to understanding and interpreting oral communication. In the LESCANT model framework, non-verbal has been listed as one of the variations in international business communication. The Non-verbal aspect assimilates several issues, which include kinesics, oculesics, and haptics. These are the specific communication skills that Dumont would have taken with her in the meeting.
Oculesics refers to eye contact and gaze. The eye contact is maintained for a short while, say for two seconds, and then it is broken. It is considered a sign of respect and attentiveness in some areas. Dumont would have therefore sought to find out how the subculture viewed eye contact. This is because, for some cultures or subcultures, direct eye contact may be regarded as an intrusion hence causing misinterpretations. Haptics is communication that makes use of bodily contact. When used appropriately, it can create feelings of warmth and trust, and the members will be more likely to offer their inputs during crucial meetings. Haptics can be in the form of handshakes or any other place that the Native Americans deem appropriate.
Kinesics incorporates body movements such as facial expressions, gestures, posture and stance, and other mannerisms. It is important to note that kinesics can only be effective if one understands how that particular subculture interprets them. For instance, gestures are symbols or illustrators that can have different meanings across cultures and subcultures. In terms of posture and stance, how somebody sits can convey self-confidence and interest, thus sending positive messages to the audience. Dumont could have, therefore, incorporated all these personalized tips in making the meeting exciting and productive.
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions provide a theoretical basis for understanding cultural and subcultural differences. From the aspect of Long-term vs. Short-term, we can classify the Native Americans as Short-term oriented. This is because the subculture is concerned with respecting traditions, fulfilling social obligations, and control systems (Piepenburg, 2011). Therefore, since the subculture firmly considers its history, specific cultural skills must be mastered when conducting a meeting with them.
Some of these cultural skills include cross-cultural fluency, sociocultural adjustments, and subcultural sensitivity. Intercultural fluency is the ability to comprehend the basic norms and perspectives associated with other subcultures. Dumont should have carried this skill with her, but only after researching the Native Americans. The sociocultural adjustment refers to the ability of an individual to fit in, in a different subculture in a way that their traditions and values guide one. Subcultural sensitivity means that an individual is well aware of the similarities and differences associated with a different subculture without classifying it as positive or negative, better or worse.
Facilitation skills that Dumont would have incorporated in the meeting include adaptability, flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity, and excellent interpersonal skills. With adaptability, Dumont would have been able to adjust her approach and enact cues specific to the subculture. Flexibility would have her to maintain her own culture but still interpret the new subculture and understand its ways. |Tolerance for ambiguity is vital for a facilitator as it will help the individual to operate effectively in uncertain environments and conflicting directions. Outstanding interpersonal skills that Ois in communication and listening will enable a facilitator to interact with others effectively.
Other details that would have created a more successful meeting include subcultural training through the intellectual model, area training model, and interaction approach (20602f lecture notes.zip, 2020). In an intellectual model, an individual learns about facts associated with the subculture. The area training model emphasizes on problem-solving with subculture-specific content. Lastly, the interaction approach will enable one to survey her audience and determine the most productive approach to incorporate into meetings. This training will be very beneficial to subcultural facilitators throughout their careers, and professionals can administer the training. Through the training, minor details that one would have missed while conducting research will be highlighted.
References
Barmeyer, C. & Franklin, P. (2016). Intercultural management: a case-based approach to achieving complementarity and synergy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Palmer, J., Garrido, M. & Gómez, I. (2006). Intercultural and international business communications: theory, research, and teaching. Bern New York: Lang.
Piepenburg, K. (2011). Critical analysis of Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions To what extent are his findings reliable, valid, and applicable to organizations in the 21st century. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Sycara, K., Gelfand, M. & Abbe, A. (2013). Models for intercultural collaboration and negotiation. Dordrecht New York: Springer.
Victor, D. (1992). International business communication. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
20602f lecture notes.zip. (2020). Retrieved 5 June 2020, from
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